Takatora Kureshima
is . He is Mitsuzane Kureshima's older brother, who is a project leader in the Research and Development branch the Yggdrasill Corporation owned by his father. Character History Origin At some point prior to the beginning of the story, he discovered the Melon Lockseed and a Sengoku Driver, enabling him to transform into Zangetsu. Helheim Forest Investigation Takatora was first seen as Zangetsu, rescuing his men from the a bunch of Elementary Inves during their investigation in the Helheim Forest. He later appears in his normal identity in a company limo watching the broadcast about Armored Rider Gaim before taking out his Melon Lockseed while issuing the order to investigate Helheim Forest. Attack On Gaim He later appeared again in the forest by attacking Armored Rider Gaim, convincing Gaim of the true nature of the Armored Rider battles and mocking him by asked him that his Sengoku Driver was no good to evil. Revealing his secret Mitsuzane walks across the hallway and sees Takatora's Sengoku Driver and two other lockseeds. Takatora then calls Mitsuzane for a conversation about his education. Takatora then leaves to take a phone call. Once he finishes he realizes he is in a hurry and goes to work, not knowing that Mitsuzane knows more than he realizes. Personality Though a ruthless realist, but Takatora still loves his family and spoils his younger brother, and especially cares about Mitsuzane's education. He is the most experienced Armored Rider to date. As he attacked Gaim brutally despite Kota having no intention to fight him to make his point. The power given by the Lockseeds and Sengoku Driver is no game, letting Kota go after clearly being the winner. Arms Kamen Rider Zangetsu's forms are called . - Melon= Melon Arms *'Height': 206 cm. *'Weight': 109 kg. Ability Perimeters: *'Punching power': 10.2 t. *'Kicking power': 13 t. *'Maximum jump height': 24 m. *'Maximum running speed': 100 m. per 6.1 sec. is Zangetsu's default lime green form. Accessed through the Melon Lockseed, this form's personal weapon is the Melon Defender. This form debuts in episode 2. In the power stats, Zangetsu dominates by hitting harder than Gridon's hardest punch and Gaim/Kurokage's fiercest kicks. In terms of agility though, he out jumps Gaim in Pine Arms by two whole meters, and is about as fast as Baron. - Fourze= Fourze Arms is a special form exclusive to Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Gaim & Wizard: The Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle. Accessed through the Fourze Lockseed, this form's personal weapon is the Rocket Module. }} - Zangetsu Shin= Melon Energy Arms is an upgrade form of Kamen Rider Zangetsu, accessed via the Genesis Driver and the Melon Energy Lockseed. }} Equipment *Sengoku Driver - Primary Transformation Device *Genesis Driver - Secondary Transformation Device *Musou Saber - Primary sword/gun weapon after transforming with the Sengoku Driver *Sonic Arrow - Secondary bow and arrow weapon after transforming with the Genesis Driver *Lockseed-exclusive weapons: **Melon Defender - Zangetsu Melon Arms' personal weapon **Rocket Module - Zangetsu Fourze Arms' personal weapon *Lockseeds - Gives access to Zangetsu's form changes, depending on which arm the lock is List of Appearances *''Kamen Rider Gaim'' **Episode 2: Certain Kill! Pine Kick! **Episode 4: Birth! The Third Rider is Grapes! **Episode 5: Revival! Ichigo Arms of Friendship! **Episode 6: Durian Rider, Go to War! **Episode 7: Big Bang! Big Ball Watermelon *''Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Gaim & Wizard: The Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle'' **''Kamen Rider Gaim: Sengoku Battle Royale'' Behind the Scenes Portrayal Takatora Kureshima is portrayed by , who previously portrayed Kakashi in Garo: Soukoku no Maryu. As Kamen Rider Zangetsu, his suit actor is , who was previously the suit actor for Kamen Rider Beast, Phoenix and White Wizard in Kamen Rider Wizard.Uchusen, Vol. 142 Notes *Gen Urobuchi, the head writer of Kamen Rider Gaim, has referred to Zangetsu as the "Ouja" of this series, possibly referring to his status as either a counterpart to the main Rider, Ouja's homicidal tendencies, or both. *Kamen Rider Zangetsu bears a passing resemblence to the Perfect Form of N-Daguva-Zeba in Kamen Rider Kuuga, being predominantly white with large, gold crown-like horns on his head and bulky armor across his shoulders and chest. *Like the original Kamen Rider G3/Makoto Hikawa, Zangetsu gets two different transformation devices. *Takatora's Rider alias is also the name of the main character's blade in the long running anime/manga series Bleach. *Takatora having the Fourze Lockseed for the Movie War film is a sense of irony, as the Rider the Lockseed represents is almost the exact opposite of Takatora in terms of personality. *Zangetsu Melon Arms' transformation announcement phrase, "Tenka Gomen" (天下御免, "Authorized by Divine Providence"), is also part of the final line of the ' roll call phrase. *When Zangetsu becomes Zangetsu Shin, this gives him the similarities to Kamen Riders Ichigo and Nigo as when they were upgraded, they gained the title "Shin", though Ichigo and Nigo never did refer to themselves as such. **It also bears some similarities with Kamen Rider G3's upgrade to G3-X as it's a permanent switch instead of a simple form change like most Riders. References Category:Kamen Rider Gaim Category:Kamen Riders Category:Neo-Heisei Era Riders Category:Heisei Era Riders Category:Mystic Riders Category:Restricted-use Riders Category:Relatives Category:Gaim Riders Category:Rival Category:Antiheroes